About this calculator
Scotland replaced stamp duty with the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax in 2015, and its shape is different from England's SDLT: a more generous start (nothing to pay up to £145,000) but much steeper middle bands — 10% from £325,001 and 12% above £750,000. The result is a crossover: LBTT is slightly cheaper than SDLT at £300,000 (£4,600 vs £5,000) and far more expensive at £500,000 (£23,350 vs £15,000). This calculator runs the full Revenue Scotland table alongside your repayment.
First-time buyer relief in Scotland is simple and cliff-free: the nil-rate threshold rises from £145,000 to £175,000, saving exactly £600 (2% of the £30,000 slice) whatever the price. There is no upper price cap. Additional dwellings attract the Additional Dwelling Supplement on top — not modelled here, which assumes this is your only and main home. Scottish offers are also usually "offers over" with a Home Report valuation; if you pay above the valuation, your deposit must cover the gap, because lenders lend against the valuation, not the price.
How to use it
- Enter the property price and your deposit — the difference is the mortgage amount.
- Add the interest rate and term. Most UK deals fix the rate for 2–5 years, then revert; this calculator estimates across the whole term at the rate you enter.
- Leave the product fee at £999 (a typical lender fee) or set your actual fee — it is counted in your upfront costs, not added to the loan.
- Tick "first-time buyer" if it applies and your nation's relief will be used in the stamp duty figure.
- Read the monthly repayment and the full upfront cash you need: deposit, stamp duty and fee.
The formula
M is the monthly repayment on a capital-and-interest (repayment) mortgage, P the amount borrowed, r the monthly rate and n the number of monthly payments. Stamp duty is not part of the loan maths: it is a separate tax on the purchase price, charged in bands so that each slice of the price is taxed at its own rate — which is why the three UK nations produce three different bills on the same home.
Worked example
A £300,000 Edinburgh flat with a £30,000 deposit leaves a £270,000 mortgage — £1,500.75 a month at 4.50% over 25 years. LBTT is £4,600: nothing on the first £145,000, 2% on the next £105,000 (£2,100) and 5% on the final £50,000 (£2,500). As a first-time buyer the bill drops to £4,000. At £500,000 the LBTT bill is £23,350 — the 10% band does the damage — against £15,000 for the same home in England.
Frequently asked questions
How is LBTT calculated on a £500,000 home in Scotland?
Band by band: £0 on the first £145,000; 2% on £145,000–£250,000 = £2,100; 5% on £250,000–£325,000 = £3,750; 10% on £325,000–£500,000 = £17,500. Total £23,350. Above £750,000 the rate becomes 12%, so a £1 million home pays £78,350.
How much does Scottish first-time buyer relief save?
Up to £600 — exactly 2% of the extra £30,000 of nil-rate band (£175,000 instead of £145,000). It applies at any price with no cap and no cliff edge: at £200,000 it cuts the bill from £1,100 to £500; at £500,000 from £23,350 to £22,750. Modest, but it never creates the £5,000 cliff that English first buyers face at £500,001.
What is the Additional Dwelling Supplement?
ADS is a surcharge on LBTT when you buy an additional residential property (a second home or buy-to-let) — currently an extra 8% of the whole price where it applies, charged on top of the standard LBTT in this calculator. On a £300,000 second home that is another £24,000. It can sometimes be reclaimed if you sell your previous main residence within the set period.
Do Scottish buyers pay for a Home Report?
Usually the seller provides the Home Report (single survey, energy report and property questionnaire). The valuation in it matters to your mortgage: lenders base the loan-to-value on the valuation, so if you offer £320,000 on a home valued at £300,000, you need the £20,000 gap plus your deposit percentage of the valuation in cash. The calculator works on price and deposit — size the deposit against the valuation, not just the offer.
What formula does this mortgage calculator — scotland calculator use?
M = P × r(1 + r)^n ÷ ((1 + r)^n − 1) M is the monthly repayment on a capital-and-interest (repayment) mortgage, P the amount borrowed, r the monthly rate and n the number of monthly payments. Stamp duty is not part of the loan maths: it is a separate tax on the purchase price, charged in bands so that each slice of the price is taxed at its own rate — which is why the three UK nations produce three different bills on the same home. The worked example on this page applies the formula step by step with real numbers, so you can verify the result by hand.